


Cut Me Open, Don't Turn Around

by DefaltManifesto



Series: Memories Will Last With Our Healing Scars [4]
Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, M/M, Moral Dilemmas, Panic Attacks, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 17:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13908687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefaltManifesto/pseuds/DefaltManifesto
Summary: Marcus decides it's time for people to know the truth about Iraq's role in the events of Chicago. That's no easy task.





	Cut Me Open, Don't Turn Around

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh!!! This has been sitting completed in a journal since October, I just haven't typed it up. I finally did it! I hope you guys like it. Future installments will be smuttier, I promise. I just didn't want to cram too much into this fic because it was already a lot longer then I intended.
> 
> Title from Laceration by Mr. Kitty who's music honestly just fits the whole mood of this series which is why the titles and series title comes from his stuff haha. Comments are loved!

[The tumblr](http://defaltmanifesto.tumblr.com)

 

"Okay, spill.”

Marcus jerks upright, squinting into the bright light above their worktable before focusing on Horatio’s face. “Huh?”

"What have you been working on so secretively?” Horatio asks, hopping up on the table next to Marcus’ closed laptop.

“I wasn’t trying to hide it, I just didn’t wanna you know, get anyone too excited until I knew for sure I had something,” Marcus says. “Which I know now.”

“Alright. So what is it?”

Marcus opens his laptop as he tries to shake off the sleepiness. “So most people were paying attention to two things after Chicago – Aiden Pearce and Lucky Quinn. What they forgot was the guy who started the whole damn thing, Delford Wade, or as he liked to call himself, Iraq. He’s the original outside hacker of Blume, the first one to get access without you know, building it like Ray did.” Marcus pulls open his notes page. “Aiden Pearce got full access from DedSec’s Clara Lille. DedSec got it in 2013. Iraq? Guess when he accessed ctOS?”

“Earlier?”

“Early 2012,” Marcus says. “He hacked into The Merlaut and got the footage where Mayor Rushmore murdered Rose Washington, or at least a corrupted version of it, but he was blackmailing the police earlier than that given that he took over Rossi-Fremont in 2011. I doubt he would’ve been able to do it without some ctOS fed blackmail.”

“You serious?”

"This is the only line he’s got,” Marcus says, pulling up a news article. “Small publication out of The Wards where his gang was active mentioned him as the first to hack into ctOS and blackmail Blume, the police, the politicians, everyone. And all he got was one line. Every other article was more concerned with Pearce.”

“Figures,” Horatio says, leaning forward and reading over the short article. “So what you’re saying is a black man was the one to crack ctOS first and DedSec has been taking credit this whole time.”

“Yup. Even when we’re committing crimes we still get outshone by a white guy doing the same thing,” Marcus says.

“Okay, but one line in an article isn’t enough evidence,” Horatio says. “No one actually knows what went down between Pearce, Quinn, and Iraq because no one’s been able to track Pearce down and get a full, verified account.”

“Ray was working with Pearce though,” Marcus says. “He might have something.”

“Can’t hurt to ask,” Horatio says. “Why were you chasing this down anyways?”

Marcus shuts his laptop. “If I’ve learned anything it’s to look where no one else is looking. Everyone else wrote Iraq off as some criminal who happened to stumble into a ton of blackmail without looking at how he got it, and I mean it’s not like he was a good guy or anything but the world should know. The hacking community should fucking know where they got their tools from. It’s about recording history – _our_ history.”

“Not sure the legacy of a criminal is something to be celebrated,” Horatio says.

“It’s not about celebrating it,” Marcus says. “It’s about having the truth.”

“Okay, I’ll help,” Horatio says. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed.”

Marcus frowns. “What do you mean?”

“You look excited about this,” Horatio says. “And Iraq wasn’t a good guy so I don’t want you going in building him up as something he’s not and then realizing what a bad dude he is.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Marcus says, the late hour making him quicker to anger than usual. “I know who we’re going to find. I just think we should have all the info. He should get credit for everything he’s done – the good and the bad.”

“Alright,” Horatio says. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have…I know you’re smarter than that.”

“It’s fine,” Marcus says. “I’ll see what Ray knows tomorrow.”

“Then get some sleep in a proper bed before that yeah?”

“Got it.”

 

-.-

 

Ray is tight lipped about Chicago. All he offers Marcus is a shake of his head and some advice to stay away from there.

“Nothing is worth going into Blume’s old backyard,” Ray says. “There’s nowhere safe in that city, not anymore.”

“There’s nowhere safe in any city,” Marcus says.

Ray just shrugs in response.

 

-.-

 

In the end, Marcus convinces Horatio and Sitara to head to Chicago with him. It’s a long drive, but none of them are willing to take a plane, so they settle into a stolen car with their bags packed with enough clothes for a week and more snacks than strictly necessary. Marcus spends the drive the first day in the backseat pouring through the files he downloaded to try and get a handle on where to even start their search once they get into Chicago. The three of them had agreed that while every city had ctOS, Chicago was as Ray had said, the most dangerous. They wouldn’t want to linger.

They stopped just inside the Nebraska border at the first hotel that didn’t look like it’d give them lice and Sitara heads out to grab them food at the 24-hour diner on the other end of the parking lot. Horatio grabs the bathroom first while Marcus sets up as secure of a network as he can with the shitty hotel Wi-Fi. Marcus is almost asleep in his chair when Horatio emerges from the bathroom in sweats and a Nudle T-shirt.

"Dude, you gotta stop pushing yourself like this,” Horatio says, warm hand squeezing his shoulder. “There’s only so much preparing we can do. At the end of the day, we gotta just go in and see what we can find.”

“This is just tricky,” Marcus says, leaning back into Horatio’s touch. “The only place in Chicago that Iraq kept anything from what I can find is inside Rossi-Fremont. He never really left the place and I’m not showing any record of him purchasing servers through a third party to store anything off-site. We’re gonna have to go in and that’s not safe for you.”

Horatio releases him and then sits down across from him at the table. “What do you mean safe for me?”

Marcus rubs the back of his neck. “No insult intended man, but you don’t know your way around a gun, or gangs. Not like me and Sitara do.”

“I grew up in the same neighborhoods as you did Marcus,” Horatio says.

"That’s not what I mean,” Marcus says. “Sitara and I have both done undercover shit and we know how to fight our way out of a bad situation but you haven’t. I don’t feel right bringing you into that kind of an area.”

"You’re saying you think I’m a liability,” Horatio says, folding his arms across his chest.

“Kind of?” Marcus winces. “If a fire fight breaks out I don’t want you caught in the middle of it. From what I’ve read the Viceroys still control Rossi-Fremont, they just aren’t as militarily trained as they were under Iraq.”

"So what am I even here for then?”

“Decrypting, guiding us through using the cameras, stuff like that,” Marcus says. “But…you’re the leader. If you want to be in the field with us then that works too I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Horatio nods. “Guess I’m letting my pride get in the way a bit. Maybe I’m just frustrated needing to have you guys protect me all the time.”

“To be fair, I don’t think any of us are really over what almost happened…”

“That’s what I don’t like though,” Horatio says. “What happened sucked. Recovering sucked. But it’s not a reason for me to sit back when I don’t have to even though I know it makes you guys more comfortable. I will though, this time. It makes more sense.”

Marcus thinks for a second about what it’d be like, knowing he can do something but being stuck back at the hackerspace watching everyone else take the risks. “If you wanna be in the field more, we need to get you licensed guns and train you. If you really want to we can do that.”

“I think it makes more sense if we’re all capable of going in the field, even Josh,” Horatio says. “He doesn’t like to as much but we should all be able to if we need to, but like I said, you’re right this time. I’ll sit it out.”

Marcus doesn’t say it, but he’s relieved. He gets why Horatio doesn’t want to stay behind, and he gets why he wants to learn how to handle weapons to defend himself after how things went down with the Tezcas, but more than anything he wants Horatio to stay back. DedSec needs a leader, and Sitara is great at marketing and branding but she doesn’t fit that role. Wrench couldn’t lead his way out of a paper-bag, Josh wouldn’t want to, and Marcus…it wouldn’t feel right.

For now though, compromise works.

 

-.-

 

Rossi-Fremont is a god damn fortress. Sitara passes the binoculars back to Marcus and shakes her head.

"If this is them not being heavily militarized, I’d hate to see what they were like before,” she says.

"I can turn the cameras away from a doorway around back of the main building,” Horatio says through their phone earbuds. “You’ll have to climb up an elevator shaft though – everywhere else is too open and there isn’t anywhere for you to hide.”

“Glad I didn’t skip arm day,” Sitara says. “You good, Marcus?”

“Works for me,” Marcus says.

Sneaking around the large set of buildings is easy as long as they stay on the other side of the fence. Horatio turns all the cameras away while Marcus takes wire cutters to the fence, carving up a hole big enough for the both of them to crawl through and he draws his stun gun while Sitara starts in on picking the lock.

“Shouldn’t these be electronically locked?” Marcus asks.

"They downgraded a lot of the software type security after Iraq died,” Horatio says in his ear. “They’ve got cameras and a security room and boatloads of blackmail, but they aren’t nearly as sophisticated as they were. You won’t run into many electronic locks on the path I have you on.”

"Marcus, come on,” Sitara says.

They slip inside the building and Sitara curses as the door shuts behind them, plunging them in darkness.

“Horatio, lights?” Sitara asks.

“Shit, sorry. The cameras are in night vision. There aren’t any light bulbs anywhere in this hallway. It’s completely abandoned,” Horatio says.

“Alright, keep an eye out. Sitara, use your phone flash light to locate the elevator shaft. We’ll climb up one at a time,” Marcus says.

Sitara’s phone light seems too harsh in the space. It reveals just how abandoned this portion of the building truly is. There’s bullet holes in the brick, and there’s weeds and grass struggling to break free of mold-speckled tile on the floor with dust and cobwebs laying over it all like a gossamer blanket. It’s disturbing and kind of beautiful all at once. Marcus leads the way down the hall until they reach the elevator doors. They’re off their hinges, one of them lying on the ground and the other dented and caved in like a battering ram had tried to break it open which begged the question of what the hell had happened.

He had a feeling that question would go unanswered.

Sitara steps in first, shining her light at the cable car ceiling. “I’m gonna need a boost.”

It takes a little maneuvering, but once she’s balanced at Marcus’ shoulders, she’s able to open the emergency hatch at the top and climb out into the shaft. For a moment, he’s bathed in darkness. Marcus has been in plenty of tight spaces before but somehow, coupled with the lack of light, he feels trapped.

“Cable feels steady, I’m going to start heading up,” Sitara says. “How many floors am I going up Horatio?”

“Just two. I’ve been canvassing the building through the cameras since you guys got in and I think I’ve located all of Iraq’s hard-drives,” Horatio says.

“How do you know they’re his?” Marcus asks.

“Most of the other servers and drives are pretty obviously in use,” Horatio says. “These ones are buried in piles of other electronics or trash but are still plugged into the wall. It’s like he wanted someone to find them.”

“Well that’s suspicious,” Sitara says, voice strained. She must have already started climbing. “We’ll have to…be really careful looking for…viruses…”

“How about you concentrate on climbing,” Marcus says.

“Yeah slight problem with that. The elevator doors are shut on this floor,” Sitara says.

“Hold on, hold on,” Horatio says.

For a moment, there’s just silence, and then the slow grinding noise of doors above him opening. A minute later, Sitara’s light shines back down the shaft and into the cable car where Marcus is, giving him enough light to locate a railing to pull himself onto before leaping up and hauling himself up through the roof of the car. He reaches into his bag and pulls out some gloves before starting up the elevator line. He’s only made it halfway when Horatio comes to life over their secure line again.

“Sitara, you gotta move,” Horatio says. “Someone’s heading down that hall.”

“What about Marcus?”

“I’ll get the elevator doors shut, just move!”

Sitara’s light disappears and the grinding noise echoes down the darkened chamber. Marcus clings to the thick cord and tries to remember how to breath as his arms start to ache from holding his position.

“Horatio,” he chokes out, heart pounding. “Talk to me.”

“What’s wrong?” Horatio asks.

“Fuck, I think I’m claustrophobic,” he hisses, pressing his forehead into the metal wire.

“Shit, you’re okay Marcus,” Horatio says. “Gimme a second, I’ll see if there’s any emergency lights I can turn on.”

“Sitara?”

“She’s safe, she just can’t talk,” Horatio says. “You climbed into that server just fine at Blume, what’s the deal man?”

“There were lights in that server,” Marcus says. “Believe me, I’m just as shocked as you are.”

“Alright, there you go Marcus.”

A few floors up, deep red lights flicker on, bathing the whole elevator shaft in eerie light, but it’s light so Marcus doesn’t really care. Marcus takes a deep breath and gets his heart rate somewhat in control before resuming his climb. By the time he reaches the correct floor, Horatio is able to open the doors and Sitara is there to help haul him through, arms wrapping tight around him as he starts to shake. The hallway they’ve entered is a lot brighter and that helps. Still, it takes him a minute to gather himself.

"Alright, Marcus is claustrophobic. Good to know,” Sitara says.

“Honest to God, I had no idea,” Marcus says.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the same guy as before is coming back down,” Horatio says. “You guys gotta move.”

“I have a better plan,” Sitara says.

She reaches into Marcus’ bag and pulls out his stun gun before loping down the hall. A moment later, there’s the familiar buzz of the gun and then a thud before Sitara rounds the corner and comes back.

“Alright, Horatio, where are these drives at?” she asks.

“I’m sending the locations to your phones. You’re going to want to split up for the sake of speed and stealth,” Horatio says. “The higher up you go, the more people you have to try and avoid so it’s better if you’re both on your own. And be careful.”

“Roger that,” Marcus says. He pulls up the map with the marked spots that Horatio sent. “I’ll head up to the top floor if you want to start here. We can meet in the middle unless something goes wrong.”

“Works for me,” Sitara says. “Be safe.”

Marcus nods and heads off down the hall. He doesn’t pull his stun gun out of his bag this time, instead going for his silenced pistol. He doesn’t enjoy killing. He also understands that in situations like these, it can very quickly become kill or be killed and he’s not in the mood to take a chance on the stun gun not working.

He takes the nearest staircase up six flights of stairs before taking shelter behind a row of trash cans when Horatio hisses in his ear for him to hide.

“I’m just saying, Bedbug ain’t no Iraq. It’s been years and we haven’t gotten any of our territory back from those fucking Irish bastards.”

The voices are loud, careless, and coming closer.

“Marcus, you’re going to have to do something. They’re going to be on you in a few seconds.”

“So what, you want to try another coup? How ‘bout you go ask Darius how that worked out for him?” another voice says. “Oh wait, you can’t cuz Bedbug tossed him out the top floor!”

“That shit wasn’t confirmed. No one ever saw the body.”

“Not sure I’d want-“ The footsteps stop. “You see that? In the mirror.”

Marcus turns and winces when he sees at the top corner of the end of the hallway one of the circular mirrors. His reflection is obvious. The two men start shouting and drawing their weapons, but Marcus is already moving, coming up neatly over the edge of the trash bin and firing twice. He catches one in the head, the other in the neck. He breathes out and moves past their crumpled bodies and tries not to think too hard about what he did.

“Marcus…”

“What?” Marcus asks.

“Never mind.”

Horatio stays silent as Marcus combs over the floor, turning over bags of trash and digging through piles of discarded electronics before he finally finds the first drive. He kneels and opens his bag. His initial plan had been to download everything onto one of their portable drives, but it seems smarter now just to grab everything instead of wasting any time hovering in one place. There’s two dead bodies. It’s only a matter of time before that draws attention.

He heads for the stairwell on the other side of the building. When he opens the door, he finds a half-crumbled staircase that stops halfway up to the next floor and the stairs leading down well…there aren’t any, just a gaping hole. He looks at the map again. The next drive is a floor down and on the other end of the building. No telling how many people were between him and there. This was why he hated messing with gangs. It was a necessity sometimes, but the gangs in San Francisco were different. These guys were trained, and Marcus just got lucky before.

In the end, he manages to pull himself up onto the next floor which is luckily abandoned as far as he can tell. There are holes in the floor but they’re easy to avoid. He ducks into the hallway, moving quick through the dimly lit space. There aren’t any holes to avoid here so traveling is faster and when he reaches the next stairwell, it’s completely intact so he has no trouble getting down to the right floor.

“You’ve got six people in the next room,” Horatio says. “Two prostitutes, three of the guys are in bulletproof vests and have AK-47s. The other one just has a pistol.”

“Where’s the drive?”

“I think it’s on the other side of the room on a counter top next to a stack of DVDs,” Horatio says. “I can kill the lights.”

“Yeah,” Marcus says. “I’ll move then.”

Horatio doesn’t have to tell him when he cuts the lights in the room. The swearing and yelling is enough of a sign. He sneaks into the room and steals across the floor as quick as he can, pressing up tight against the counter across from the one Horatio had mentioned, barely out of sight. The lights flick back on, prompting more swearing.

"What’s the fucking point of this place if you can’t keep the fucking lights on,” one of the men says.

“Yo, the door is open-“

“It’s probably just a draft. Man, you’re so paranoid-“

The chatter resumes and Marcus lets out a slow breath, hand tight on his gun.

“You’re clear to grab the drive, just be quick,” Horatio says.

Marcus moves and doesn’t look back to see if it’s clear, trusting Horatio to keep him safe as he grabs the drive and stashes it in his bag. Once he’s up against the counter again, he scans the small area. There’s a door just to the left of where the drive was and it’s halfway open too so he would be able to move through it with little to no noise in the process, he just had to make sure they were all sufficiently distracted.

“That door you’re eyeing leads to another hallway. You can take that to another stair well. It’s clear all the way through so once you’re there you can take your time or rest if you need,” Horatio says, voice calm.

Marcus wishes he could gripe back that he doesn’t know how the hell he’s going to get to the hallway in the first place. His complaint is answered when one of the men’s phones rings.

“Hello? Yeah…fuck, are you serious? Fine. Jesus…yeah, yeah I’ll bring them,” one of the men says. “C’mon. Lenny’s got a new shipment in but busted his leg so we gotta go help him bring it up.”

“Fuck-“

“He’s always done something-“

Marcus waits until the voices retreat to the other end of the room and then dashes through the door as quick as he can and darting down the hall.

“You’re fine, don’t worry,” Horatio says. “No one saw you.”

“This is so freaking stressful,” Marcus says.

“You’ve done things like this before though,” Horatio says. “Sitara said you took down the Tezcas leadership all on your own when I was laid up in the hospital after all.”

"It’s just different when you’re somewhere completely unfamiliar,” Marcus says.

He picks up the last two hard drives on his floors before heading for Sitara’s location. He’s just dropped through a hole in the floor to the proper floor when he hears muffled shouting and footsteps in the stairwell on the other end of the hall.

"They found the bodies,” Horatio says. “You and Sitara have to get out, you don’t have time to meet up. Just go!”

“Shit, shit, shit.”

Marcus races to the nearest window, looking out over the ledge and yeah that’s too long of a drop. A second later, flood lights from the roof tops illuminate the entire courtyard area, ruling out that direction as an escape route anyways. A quick glance around the area draws his attention to a large free-standing freezer and he jogs over to it, popping it open only to find that it’s empty with a few dead bugs off in one corner. He scoops them out and then hops inside, letting the lid shut and then cradling his gun close to his chest.

“Marcus, Sitara is out, where are you?” Horatio asks.

“Hopped in the freezer on the floor I was on. Try and give me a heads up if anyone’s coming,” Marcus says. He squeezes his eyes tight and tries not to think about his recently discovered phobia.

“Fuck Marcus, you okay? Wait don’t answer there’s people walking around on your floor,” Horatio says. “I’m just gonna keep talking because that probably helps right? I don’t know what the strategies are for helping someone get through a situation like this so I’ll just talk about random shit.”

Marcus takes slow shallow breaths, trying to stay quiet as he listens to Horatio chatter away in his ear about nothing in particular. There’s something soothing about his voice. The way he talks with a slow confidence steadies Marcus now just like it always does, only it’s more noticeable now than it has been before. He loses track of time and it takes Horatio two or three times to catch his attention once the coast is clear.

"Sitara’s already booked it out of the Wards,” Horatio says. “Your floor is clear but the Viceroys are crawling all over this place like startled ants so you’ll have to be careful on your way out.”

“And even then I’ll still be in Viceroy territory,” Marcus says as he opens the cooler and steps out. “Any chance we can bring the police down on their heads, create a distraction?”

“Already tried,” Horatio says. “Pearce dumped a ton of the original blackmail all over the Internet, but they must have a lot of new stuff if the police won’t even send a patrol car to drive by.”

“Jesus,” Marcus says.

He feels better now, in the flickering fluorescent light, but with the sound of footsteps and angry voices above and below him it’s impossible to relax. Horatio guides him in a zigzag pattern up and down floors to avoid detection and by the time he makes it to the boiler room down in the basement, Marcus feels like he’s on the verge of a god damn stroke, every muscle tense to the point of shaking.

“Almost there,” Horatio says. “There’s a fire escape exit at the end of the hall. I already checked the cameras and you’re clear to get the hell out.”

Marcus hurries on out and takes a moment to just enjoy the fresh air, filling up his lungs with it and dispelling the tension in his chest. “Alright. I’m going dark until I get back. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Be careful.”

Marcus tugs his headphones out of his ears and tucks them into his shirt before heading back along the fence until he reaches the hole he cut out. Slipping through is easy and he stays as low to the ground as he can, snaking between dumpsters, concrete blocks, and old abandoned cars to avoid detection from any snipers scoping out the area from one of the higher floors. Making it to the street isn’t all that comforting though.

He pulls his hood up and keeps his head down as he walks under the muted light of dull streetlamps. The thing is though, the entire surrounding area is still Viceroy territory and an unfamiliar face was one quick phone call away from being reported to those at Rossi-Fremont; Marcus had studied them enough to know that much. His heart pounds in his throat for the entire half hour it takes for him to walk clear of the owned territory. Hotwiring a car in the parking lot of a factory after that is relatively easy and safe and before long he’s back on the highway headed for their motel.

It isn’t until he nearly crashes into the shoulder of the highway from how bad he’s shaking that he realizes what bad shape he’s in. He pulls off as quick as he can and parks under the overpass, slumping forward and pressing his forehead to the steering wheel as he tries in vain to steady his breath. In the end, he calls Wrench.

“Hey babe,” Wrench’s voice crackles over the shitty connection.

"Hi.” His voice sounds shot even to his own ears.

“Shit, Marcus, are you okay?”

“Did you know I’m claustrophobic?” Marcus isn’t sure why that’s the first thing that pops out of his mouth, but it is and Wrench being Wrench rolls with it.

“Uh, no, you’re the last person I would’ve guessed would have that problem. How’d you find that out?”

“Rossi-Fremont is fucking terrifying.”

“Uh-huh.” There’s the sound of something shuffling on the other end and the next time Wrench speaks, it isn’t his automated voice. “You safe now?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Marcus says. “If they can track me all the way here than they’re better than I thought and Dedsec would have a serious problem on its hands so…fuck I don’t know why I’m so fucked up by this.”

“Well discovering a phobia can’t be fun,” Wrench says. “And hey, you were kinda trapped the whole time weren’t you? It’s a giant brick fortress full of people who want to kill you if they find you so that’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world to stay calm during. You’re not a soldier.”

Which…no, he’s not. He can shoot and reload a gun faster than any known member of Dedsec. He can fight dirty and also has a little bit of actual training too that gives him an edge over most people he comes into contact with, but he’s not trained to fight like the Viceroys, and he has no military background. He’s a kid with big toys playing at hero.

“Marcus?”

“Sorry I just…feel like I’m way in over my head,” Marcus says, more of a gasp really.

“Alright, first, none of us know what we’re doing. Second, what do you need from me? I don’t know how to help dude,” Wrench says.

“I wish you were here,” Marcus says. “I know you can’t but fuck I’m just…overwhelmed as fuck right now.”

“You need to get back to the others, okay buddy? How far away are you?” Wrench asks.

“Like…twenty minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll stay on the line with you. Back on the road,” Wrench says.

Marcus leans back and nods even though Wrench can’t see it, feeling more calm now that he’s got Wrench calling the shots. “Okay, I’m headed back. This never happens, I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.”

“Dude, you shoulder way more than we do like, all the time,” Wrench says. “You’re gonna get overwhelmed sometimes when you risk your neck that often.”

“You risk yours all the time,” Marcus says.

“We’re different people, Marcus,” Wrench says. “I thrive on near death experiences. They’re just a shitty thing for you though.”

“I guess. You know, Horatio was talking about how he wants to be in the field like you, me, and Sitara more,” Marcus says. “After a night like tonight, I’d happily trade him, but then maybe after tonight, he won’t be interested anymore.”

“What an idiot.”

“Not entirely,” Marcus says. “I get it. He wants more agency over what goes on.”

“Still an idiot,” Wrench says. “Was that what got you worked up? The whole not being in control of what’s going on?”

Marcus sighs. “Yeah. It’s never been this dangerous.”

“Hope it’s worth it.”

“It is. Or I guess, it will be.”

It better be.

 

-.-

 

When Marcus stumbles into the hotel room, he doesn’t even get a chance to look around the room before Sitara’s hugging him close.

“Could you have taken any longer?” Sitara asks, voice muffled against his chest. She pulls back. “We were worried.”

Marcus squeezes her shoulders and offers a smile that mimics more confidence than he has. “I’m okay, don’t worry.” He looks over at Horatio who’s sitting at the table on his laptop. “Have you started in on the drives?”

“I’ve gotten his audio files, but the encryption on them was easy to get through. These drives have more data though. I’m gonna need Josh to get through it – it’s beyond my skill,” Horatio says. “You two should sleep. I’ll work on pulling the audio files off.”

Marcus sheds his bag and sets It on the table. He doesn’t remember much between then and falling asleep.

 

-.-

 

Marcus wakes up with a dry mouth and pounding heart to an empty room. For a moment, it makes his panic spike. Then, the bathroom door opens and Horatio steps out, pausing and frowning when he sees Marcus’ alarmed expression.

“You alright there, Marcus?” Horatio asks.

“Yeah,” Marcus says, the response automatic.

Horatio’s frown deepens. “You don’t have to lie to me Marcus. Thought you knew that.”

Marcus sits up, shaking his head. “Sorry, I know, I’m just really on edge right now.”

“You just woke up,” Horatio says, sitting down at the table.

“Yeah, I know, last night was just…a lot more than I’m used to,” Marcus says. “I got scared. Like, _really_ scared. Which is stupid, right, because I’ve done loads of dangerous shit in the past so it’s nothing new, it’s just now I feel like I’m totally in over my head. And that means I’ve been in over my head the whole _freaking_ time.” He sucks in a deep breath, trying to stop himself from continuing to word vomit everywhere.

He doesn’t know what he expects Horatio to say next. It’s not what he ends up saying.

“It’s okay Marcus. You’re not a reckless guy so I’m surprised it took you this long to realize that,” Horatio says.

Marcus raises an eyebrow. “Says the guy who was so eager to get into the field.”

“Yeah, but I know I won’t take to it naturally or enjoy it,” Horatio says with a shrug.

“I enjoy it too. Usually.” Marcus gets to his feet and sits down across from Horatio. “I guess I’ve just been ignoring that I hate the other parts. That they scare me.” He shakes his head. “I’m no Aiden Pearce.”

Horatio snorts. “Good. Fuck Pearce.”

“What?”

Horatio leans back in his chair. “I mean it. Fuck that guy. He doesn’t give a shit about privacy or justice or taking down corrupt institutions. All that shit just happened on accident. Not to mention, he was a vigilante by violating people’s privacy. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of what we do.”

“Damn, didn’t know you hated The Fox so much,” Marcus says.

“Yeah well I did some digging last night and found some audio files on his buried in a forgotten forum post in Chicago’s DedSec forums,” Horatio says. “He’s more black hat than people think he is. He’s selfish.”

“How are they just forgotten?” Marcus asks. “Whether you like him or not, you gotta admit he’s infamous enough to have hackers everywhere looking for info on him.”

“People avoid Chicago DedSec forums because Blume’s got them monitored,” Horatio says. “But we’re already on their radar thanks to the whole kicking a hornet’s nest thing so I figured now was my best shot.”

“So how long before Blume crashes down on us?” Marcus asks.

Horatio grins. “That’s the joy of it. The Viceroys think whoever infiltrated them last night was connected to Blume, so they’re too pre-occupied with them to bother with some random guy downloading some audio files.”

“Well that’s convenient,” Marcus says. “Nice to know the heat is nowhere near me anymore.”

“Sitara and I both decided to keep taking advantage of the opportunity so she’s out trying to locate the Bunker,” Horatio says.

Marcus’ heart rate picks back up. “Maybe we shouldn’t keep poking the bear while we’re here.”

"Relax,” Horatio says. “Blume already has control over it. We’re just going to expose it so they have to destroy it. No more ctOS free zones for any black hat hackers.”

“Wait, so she’s just hanging out in Blume’s most important piece of architecture?” Marcus asks.

“Marcus, relax. She knows what she’s doing,” Horatio says.

Marcus leans forward onto his knees, wiping his face with his hands. “Sorry, I’m just too wired.”

“That is abundantly clear. Go take a shower and try to chill out, okay?”

Marcus nods and drags himself to the bathroom. The hot water helps release some of the tension in his muscles, but it doesn’t help how quickly his mind keeps racing. It’s like there’s a fuck ton of leftover adrenaline pumping through him with nowhere to go, so now it’s just spilling out in all his interactions with, well, _everyone_. Still, he feels a little better once he’s clean. He just wishes he had somewhere for all the nervous energy to go, but he’s not sure doing anything attention grabbing in Blume’s backyard.

He changes into some clean clothes and heads back into the main room. Horatio is frowning down at his phone and he stuffs it in his pocket when Marcus sits down across from him again.

“So any reason your boyfriend just texted me recommending that I make out with you?” Horatio asks, raising an eyebrow. “Apparently, it’s the Number One Way To Chill Marcus Out tactic.”

“That’s bullshit. Wrench likes making out way more than me,” Marcus says, face heating. “Also Wrench seems to think I’m secretly in love with everyone in DedSec.”

Horatio doesn’t laugh. “Are you?”

“I…don’t know.”

“Wrench loves you, Marcus.”

“I know. I love him too. He’s the one who keeps pushing me to explore things with you guys I just don’t want to make things weird,” Marcus says. “I mean, come on, this conversation is already weird.”

“Fair point,” Horatio says, relaxing back into his chair. Then he grins. “So what? You like me?”

Marcus rolls his eyes. “You’re one of my best friends.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” Horatio says.

“Wrench is also one of my best friends,” Marcus says, lips quirking up.

“What does…oh.” Horatio’s eyes widen.

“But I mean, only if you’re like interested in me, which it’s totally cool if you’re not,” Marcus says quickly.

“I-“ Horatio stops when his phone buzzes. He pulls it out of his pocket and looks it over before laughing and handing it to Marcus.

_Wrench: U making out yet?_

Marcus types out a quick response.

_Horatio: This is Marcus. I’m totally about to kiss him._

_Wrench: Get it!!!!_

Marcus pushes the phone aside. “So, do you want to? Because I’m down if you are.”

“You must be really dense,” Horatio says. “I’ve been into you before you even got into DedSec. It’s only gotten worse since then.”

“Shit, really?”

Horatio rolls his eyes. “You may be in love with all of DedSec, but I’m pretty sure all of DedSec is in love with you too, or at least the ones that matter.”

“Oh. Huh.” It takes Marcus by surprise. It wasn’t like he lacked confidence and thought Horatio, Josh, and Sitara were better than he was, he just didn’t think he’d be that lucky. “But shouldn’t we you know, pay attention to Sitara?”

“We can multi-task.”

Marcus expects Horatio to kiss him then. Instead, Horatio grabs his laptop and tugs Marcus over to the bed and sits down with his back against the headboard. He manhandles Marcus to sit because his legs and lean back into him before setting the laptop on Marcus’ knees and opening it.

“There, best of both worlds,” Horatio says, his low voice in Marcus’ ear making goosebumps break out over his skin.  

Still, it’s…calming to have Horatio’s arms wrapped around him, the warm weight steadying him. He clicks through the screens Horatio has pulled up, unsurprised to find he’s already accessed the cameras inside the Bunker.

“The downside to Blume keeping an eye on this place is it makes it that much easier for us to get inside,” Horatio says.

“Isn’t that an upside?” Marcus asks, clicking through the camera feeds and getting a scope of how complicatedly huge the Bunker is.

“I meant downside for them,” Horatio says. “Check the outside cameras. I don’t see Sitara anywhere.”

Marcus clicks over and tries not to think about the warm hands sliding up under his shirt and resting against his stomach. It’s nice, but distracting. He finds Sitara perched on top of a tower of storage containers with her laptop a crane moving to lift and reorganize all the containers near the warehouse building. He toggles the view to the opposite side of the building. There’s movement on the far shoreline, sleek black and red cars pulling up.

“Those are Viceroys,” Horatio says.

“This Blume-Viceroy turf war is about to get ugly,” Marcus says.

He shifts in Horatio’s grip and gets his phone out, calling Sitara and cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear.

“Hey Marcus,” she says, voice muffled by her face mask.

"You’ve got Viceroys incoming,” Marcus says.

“Motherfucker! I’ve almost got this. You know no one’s had access to these systems since Defalt and before that, Clara never gave access to DedSec. I’m finishing this.”

Horatio plucks the phone from Marcus and puts it on speaker. “It’s not worth it Sitara. Get out.”

“Hell no! Either help or shut up.”

Marcus pulls out of Horatio’s grip and tunes out whatever they’re arguing about and follows the connection threads of cameras back across the water. What he finds is…surprising. Each of the cameras is mounted with a god damn machine gun. He turns the camera towards the gathered Viceroys. After picking out the most dangerous among them, he takes aim and trips the code to start firing. The result is instantaneous.

Once it’s started, it won’t stop, so once one of the Viceroys is taken down, he moves to the next. It gets tricky when they hide behind their cars. Ammo runs out a second later so Marcus turns the camera to scope out the rest of the area. There’s four other cameras, and all four have assault rifles mounted beneath them.

"I’ve got this,” Marcus says. “Just tell Sitara to be quick.”

It’s sloppy given the lack of real control he has over the guns. Even so, it’s enough to keep the Viceroys distracted and gives Sitara time to build a decent barrier of steel storage containers. He turns the camera to the turning bridge and shuts the power down.

“She’s inside the building,” Horatio says as he climbs off the bed. “She’s going to download everything manually instead of sending it to us. We need to be ready to pick her up.”

“Alright,” Marcus says. “Looks like you’re getting that field work you wanted.”

Horatio wrinkles his nose. “I guess so.”

 

-.-

 

Sitara climbs into their car soak wet and stinking of the Chicago River. Horatio peels out of the shipyard and heads for the highway while Marcus takes Sitara’s bag and pulls out the sealed waterproof baggies she’d put her laptop and drive in. After making sure they were both functioning, he moved them to his own bag.

“It is so hard to swim with twenty pounds of equipment and people shooting at you,” Sitara says, panting as she stretches out in the backseat. “How’d you distract them anyways?”

“The cameras by the highway were mounted with guns,” Marcus says with a nervous laugh. “I honestly have no idea why or how but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Sitara’s laugh is borderline hysterical. “Chicago is fucking wild.”

Horatio pulls over once they reach the Mad Mile and they ditch the car in a warehouse parking lot in exchange for a van from the same place. Sitara changes into dry clothes in the back while Horatio calls Josh to get their hotel in Iowa squared away.

“So we all learned our lesson right?” Marcus asks once they’re on the highway again.

“Don’t swim in the Chicago River,” Sitara says.

“Don’t start turf wars with heavily militarized gangs and Blume,” Horatio adds.

"Oh and start attaching heavy weaponry to cameras around the hackerspace,” Sitara says. “Not sure who came up with that but it’s fucking genius.”

“Okay, so we learned nothing,” Marcus says.

Horatio reaches out and squeezes his shoulder. “It worked out Marcus. And now, DedSec gets to make history again.”

 

-.-

 

By the time they reach the hotel late that night, Marcus feels less uptight. The danger feels far away. The hypervigilance that had plagued him since the night before melted away as he stretched out on the bed. He’s almost asleep when Horatio lies down next to him. Marcus turns on his side when Sitara turns the shower on in the bathroom.

“You look better,” Horatio says. “Less tense.”

"I’ll be happy when I’m on a familiar street,” Marcus says. “Don’t get me wrong, we got a ton of good info and do all of this again in a heartbeat, but I’m gonna need some _serious_ downtime when we get back.”

Horatio reaches out, hand cupping Marcus’ face a moment before his fingers trace over his lips. Marcus catches his hand and holds it in his own.

“Maybe we could take that downtime together,” Horatio says.

“I’d like that,” Marcus says, and before he can talk himself out of it, leans forward to press their lips together.

For a moment, Horatio goes completely still and Marcus almost pulls back. He doesn’t get a chance to, because Horatio cups the back of his head and rolls closer as he deepens the kiss. Marcus wants to kick himself for not doing this sooner because god damn, Horatio kisses like he fucking owns Marcus. He dominates the interaction and for once, Marcus feels like he’s just along for the ride.

And he’s a lot more into that than he thought he would be.

He shifts onto his back, urging Horatio to follow and then he’s got Horatio pressing him into the mattress as he kisses him breathless. If there was any hidden tension, it’s long gone now. Apparently, he’s as easy to settle down as Wrench is; a firm hand is all it takes. Of course, then his brain starts supplying him with images of all three of them together and he’s getting hard a lot faster than he anticipated.

Before he gets a chance to say or do anything, the shower shuts off and startles them apart. Marcus stares at the ceiling for a second before glancing at Horatio. He grins when he sees Horatio looking back at him, which prompts a laugh from Horatio and soon they’re both laughing and earning a confused look from Sitara when she enters the room dressed in an oversized t-shirt and shorts.

“Does all this giggling have anything to do with the text Wrench sent me?” Sitara asks.

Marcus sighs and sits up. “Is it something to do with making out with me?”

“Yeah, actually. What am I missing?” Sitara asks. She leans back against the dresser.

“Wrench is on a crusade to make sure I tell everyone how I feel about them,” Marcus says.

Sitara raises a slim eyebrow. “Are you saying you’re in love with me?”

"To be fair, I’m in love with a lot of people,” Marcus says. “And, I’m totally cool with being friends because that’s way more important to me so uh…yeah.”

"Are you _sure_ Wrench is okay with this?” Sitara asks.

“Sitara, Marcus wouldn’t do anything to hurt Wrench,” Horatio says.

"Not intentionally,” Sitara says as she meets Marcus’ eyes. “But we all know Wrench has some serious self-esteem issues. Have you considered that?”

Marcus can’t help the way her words make his hackles raise, especially since she always seems to assume he’s thoughtless and doesn’t talk to Wrench. He doesn’t get a chance though, because Horatio speaks up first.

“Seriously? Wrench trusts Marcus more than any of us,” Horatio says. “He’s going to be a better judge than either of us, _plus_ Wrench literally texted you that he’s okay with it.”

“You’re right.” Sitara shakes her head as she looks down. “I know that. Besides, if I’m worried, I should talk to Wrench, not take it out on you.”

Marcus shoves his initial anger away and gets to his feet to walk over to her. “You’re looking out for your friend, I get it. If you’re not comfortable with what Wrench and I have decided when it comes to having an open relationship, talk to him. And I swear, if you never want to be with me, it’s not gonna make me respect you any less.”

Sitara bounces her leg as she thinks before looking up at him. “That’s kinda the problem. I _do_ want to be with you. I’m just not sure if I can share.”

“Oh,” Marcus says. That isn’t what he expected.

“So. Let me talk to Wrench and I’ll think about it,” she says, the smile she offers him far from legitimately happy.

“Alright.”

Marcus hugs her, wondering just how fucking dense he must be to not have noticed. When he lets go, she grabs her phone and room key before heading out to the parking lot to more than likely call Wrench. Marcus sighs and turns back to Horatio.

“Marcus Holloway – Heartbreaker,” Horatio says, and he means it as a joke but it just makes Marcus groan and face plant onto the bed.

“Is there something wrong with me?” Marcus asks.

“What do you mean?” Horatio asks.

Marcus rolls onto his back and looks over at him. “Wrench is…enough, more than enough. I fucking love him. So why am I so freaking greedy?”

Horatio frowns. “You’re looking at it all wrong, dude. It’s not being greedy, you just got a lot of love to go around and a partner who _wants_ you to pursue that. Sitara being uncomfortable with it doesn’t make you or her bad. Got it?”

Marcus offers him a smile as the knot of tension in his chest loosens. “Thanks.”

 

-.-

 

Ray leaves the hackerspace once they get back and start going through all they’ve gathered with a gruff “ _Let me know when you’re done digging up shit meant to be buried”._

Marcus feels a little bad about it. Obviously what went down in Chicago still bothered him enough to leave it all behind. Still, transparency was important even if it was uncomfortable.

“People don’t leave audio files like this if they don’t want people to hear them,” Sitara says as she opens her video editing software where she sits at the main table. “Alright. Horatio you start going through Aiden’s files. Marcus, you’ve got Iraq, Wrench and I will handle most of the Bunker info, and Josh…you get everything Defalt left behind. You’re the only one who can maybe navigate whatever surprises he left behind.”

Josh nods. “I’ll be careful.”

He retreats to his desk, leaving the rest of them clustered around the table.

Marcus hooked his foot behind Wrench’s so their legs were pressed together under the table. Truth be told, he’d wanted to drag Wrench to his apartment and spend the next few days with him, but this had to come first. They were sitting on a gold mine after all. He slips his head headphones in and opens the first of Iraq’s decrypted audio files.

_"Yo, get out, I’m recording! A’ight…here it is. My legacy. Iraq’s legacy…”_

 

-.-

 

" _So if I catch a bullet…if somebody finds this…you make sure everybody knows what I was. Shit, I was nothing. I came from nothing, I got nothing, never asked for shit nothing. But now…well you watch the news. I did that. By. My. Self. The fuck did you ever do?”_

The audio clips sputters to a halt and leaves behind dead air. Marcus feels a bit like he’s been raked over a bed of hot coals as the same thought keeps running circles through his head, too fast to grasp and really process.

_That could’ve been me. That could’ve been me, that could’ve been me, thatcould’vebeenme-_

He rips the headphones out and gets to his feet with a noisy scrape of his chair. The noise makes everyone look at him, concerned.

"I just uh…need a minute,” he says and then heads up the stairs.

He leaves the building and heads across the street to the park, taking deep breaths of clean air and trying to calm his thoughts long enough to process them. It’s terrifying how much he can see of himself in Iraq. The drive, the _need_ for some sort of legacy, the distrust and downright hatred for a justice system so deeply flawed he ended up on the wrong side of it without doing anything wrong…if things had been different, would he be the same? Would his morality have shifted? How much of what they did now used the same justification Iraq used for much worse behavior?

“Marcus…”

Horatio following him isn’t all that surprising, but he’s not sure there’s anything to say just yet. He sits on one of the park benches. Horatio sits down next to him, arms stretching out along the back of it even as Marcus leans forward and rubs at his eyes.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Horatio asks.

Marcus sighs. “Just…how easily could that have been us?”

“What do you mean?”

"I mean look at our communities. They don’t trust the police for a good god damn reason and you and I both have been on the receiving end of those bullshit, racist policies. People fall into gangs for protection and to fight back. You and I just fell into a hacker gang instead,” Marcus says. He shakes his head. “Iraq could’ve been us.”

For a long few moments, Horatio is silent as he thinks.

“Well,” he finally says. “I think your wrong. I mean, yeah, given the right circumstances anyone can get mixed up with a gang, but I don’t think either of us could’ve been Iraq.”

Marcus looks up at him. “Why not? We’re hackers. We’re angry We have all the same god damn motivations.”

Horatio shakes his head. “No we don’t, Marcus. Cruelty can be something cultivated, sure, but you’ve gotta be able to ignore your morality and empathy and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’re…nice.”

“But-“

"Hold on, I’m not done,” Horatio says. “I’m no good at field work because I’m never gonna be able to kill someone to save myself. You can do that. But if Chicago taught us anything it’s that you struggle with it too. Iraq trafficked women for profit. He started a war with cops instead of exposing their corruption. He _hid_ the truth for his own purposes. You aren’t a soldier Marcus, and you might be angry about injustice but the solution for you hasn’t ever been to stoop to their level, it’s been to shine a light at hose dark corners. And I’m the same.”

Hearing the words from Horatio is different than trying to convince himself. There’s a reason Horatio has one of the most well-respected members of DedSec, and it was because he brought morality and focus to an otherwise disorganized mess. He saw things clearly when the rest of them couldn’t. If he didn’t see the potential for great corruption in Marcus, then it just wasn’t there.

Horatio squeezes his shoulder. “Marcus?”

“Sorry I just…I’ve killed a lot of people over the last few months since I joined DedSec. Looking at what Iraq did it’s just hard to see the difference,” Marcus says, throat tightening.

“Maybe you should sit the rest of this out,” Horatio says, hand sliding up to cup the back of his neck. “I’m worried about you.”

Marcus leans into him, eyes closing. “I think you’re right to.”

 

-.-

 

Marcus wakes up the next morning to the smell of coffee and the sound of someone cooking in his kitchen. His first thought is surprise because Wrench never makes breakfast. The second is confusion because Wrench is currently sprawled out on the bed next to him, which means there’s someone else in his apartment. He untangles himself from Wrench and heads for the main room.

Horatio stands at the stove dressed in a DedSec hoodie and a pair of Marcus’ old high school track sweats. Marcus stares at him. It wasn’t like he minded – quite the opposite. He’s just…confused.

“Morning,” Marcus says.

Horatio drops the spatula in surprise, but then smiles. “Hey dude. How you feel?”

Marcus thinks. “Better, I think. Helps to sleep in my own bed. You guys pull an all nighter?”

“Not quite.” Horatio flips a pancake onto the growing stack on a plate off to the side. “We got what we wanted for our first video on Iraq and Sitara’s going to launch it sometime this morning. There’s a lot more work to do with Aiden and Defalt’s files, so while we work on those, Sitara’s going to organize weekly videos on Iraq. It’ll be like a hacker history lesson.”

Marcus hops up on the counter next to the plate and tears off a piece of a fluffy pancake to pop into his mouth. “Iraq was terrible, but Aiden shouldn’t get all the credit.”

“Damn fucking straight.”

Horatio cleans up while Marcus gets plates and syrup. They eat at the counter in relaxed silence, giving Marcus time to sort out how he’s really feeling. He hadn’t lied – the sleep did help. But the guilt and fear still sits heavy in his gut, fresh now that he has some distance from Horatio’s pep talk the night before.

"Does DedSec have therapists?” he asks.

Horatio frowns. “I mean…members have a variety of day jobs. Why, do you think you need to talk to someone?”

"Maybe.” He offers an awkward smile. “I’m pretty overwhelmed. I’ll see how I feel after taking a break for a bit, maybe that’s all I need.”

“Still, I can put some feelers out there,” Horatio says. “You always look after us. Let us look after you this time.”

Marcus nods. “Yeah….okay.”


End file.
